It marked a fantastic day for British wheelchair racing as Shelly Woods (pictured top, with Weir receiving their trophies from Prince Harry) secured victory in the women's race to pick up her second title on the streets of the capital following her triumph in 2007.

But the day undeniably belonged to Weir (pictured below) as the 32-year-old Londoner produced a trademark sprint finish to surge ahead of the pack and take a thrilling one-second victory in a relatively modest time of 1hour 32min 26sec.

Switzerland's Marcel Hug narrowly finished second behind his great rival with a time of 1 hour 32min 27sec while America's Krige Schabort took third place, another second further adrift.

The sprint finish developed after a cagey race in which Weir had been unable to break away from the pack.

In fact, the double Beijing 2008 Paralympic champion spent the large majority of the 26-mile race in Hug's wheeltracks.


However, he superbly positioned himself as the racers reached the last mile and broke away in style over the final 200 metres to leave his rivals trailing.

The victory followed Weir's previous successes in the event in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011.

Ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic marathon, the victory proved a huge boost to Weir who defeated a stellar field that included world record holder Heinz Frei of Switzerland, who finished fifth in 1:32:28 and Boston Marathon champion Josh Cassidy of Canada who came eighth in 1:33:01.

Australia's Kurt Fearnley, the reigning T54 Paralympic and world champion, was the only high-profile wheelchair athlete missing in London.

"This is a very special feeling," said a delighted Weir.

"It feels better than my first win and it was very emotional because it could be my last one for a while.

"I haven't decided what I'm going to do after the Paralympics and there is a chance that I might retire, so it was special.

"It is also very special to equal Tanni's record because she is someone who inspired me.

"I remember I went to the Atlanta 1996 Paralympics as a 17-year-old and didn't enjoy it so I gave up racing.

"It was four years later that I saw Tanni racing in Sydney winning all those gold medals, and that inspired me to get back involved in the sport and compete at both Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008.

"So it is really special and I'm really emotional."


In comparison to Weir's tight sprint-finish victory, Woods' triumph proved relatively easy as the 25-year-old from Blackpool effortlessly pulled away from the pack at the halfway stage and never looked back.

Woods (pictured above) spent the final stages of the race by herself as she finished in an impressive time of 1:49:10.

She finished nearly four minutes ahead of second placed Wakako Tsuchida of Japan who crossed the line in 1:53:04.

Canada's Diane Roy finished in third place, just a second adrift of Tsuchida, in 1:53:05, but they never looked likely to trouble Woods who has now established herself a favourite for gold in the London 2012 Paralympics marathon.

However, Woods insisted afterwards: "I wouldn't say I'm favourite for gold [at London 2012] after this, but gold is definitely an ambition.

"The key is to try and keep this form and I'm full of confidence after the win.

"This is the best field I have seen and on the start line I was very worried about all those girls because they are all world class.

"Even at the end I was expecting one of them to pop out of nowhere and catch me.

"I'm now looking forward to the rest of the year – and obviously the Paralympics."

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